Cuteness

We're in Chicago this week for spring break (the kids).


Can you stand this cuteness?!? (His baby brother ranks just as high in the cuteness dept but was sleeping each time I had the camera out.

Carson sat down and read to Isaiah. They are reading Mouse Mess, a book that their Aunt Kristin has given to all the kids and was Carson's favorite book when he was about Isaiah's age!


And, boy, it sure is cold in Chicago! I think someone forget to let this area know that it is SPRINGTIME! :)

Baby time!

My brother and sister-in-law were in town for the holidays and that meant lots of baby time for the rest of the family.

This little nugget just slept and slept and slept. He is only 3 weeks old, afterall, and they don't do much more than that at this age. I think he was held non-stop from the minute he arrived until they packed up and left town.

Not to be outdone by his baby brother, big brother Isaiah charmed the pants off whoever was NOT currently holding his baby brother.

Especially if you came around with a camera that has a flash that pops up when needed.

As soon as he saw that flash pop up, he started making his faces.

And just kept going as long as someone on the other end of the camera kept making that flashy thing go off!

OK, we may have temporarily blinded him by now but being the trooper he is, he keeps on going.

But we give it a rest when he finally flashes this look that clearly says, "Enough with the pictures, Aunt Gretchen...let's go play with the trains instead!"

I'm an aunt again!

I love being an aunt. Probably because we have AMAZING nieces and nephews and I was an aunt way before I was a mom.

And now I have one more nephew to fawn over. Peter Nathaniel was born yesterday. One of his due dates was on Carson's birthday later this week and Carson was really hoping they'd share a birthday.



He was born yesterday in Chicago. It took a great deal of restraint to not hop in the car for a quick one day trip up to lay eyes on him.

This is my brother, who is 10 years younger than me (but with all that grey hair is looking closer to my age every day!) I still see him as a 14 year old kid so it blows my mind every time I think of him as a father!

And not to be outstaged, here is Isaiah (Peter's older brother) lounging with one of their dogs. He has no idea how this new baby will rock his world.

They are coming down for Thanksgiving. I'm not sure I can wait unti them to get my hands on this new guy and play with Isaiah.

Just because

I can't get enough of this face! I love all our nieces and nephews dearly. They are all unique. Three head back to college this week (is that even possible?!?) while we are expecting another nephew in November. This little guy is the littlest of the crew (for at least 2 more months) and is at that adorable toddler stage. His mom and dad force him to live in the Chicago area so we don't see them as much as I would like (hence, my frequent trips up yonder...most any excuse will do!)

I just adore these goofy toddler expression!



(Do you think his parents are already trying to influence his college choice...I'm not sure he has enough fingers and toes to count his relatives who have attended Wheaton.)

Big News

Betcha thought the news had to do with adding to our family....NOPE! (Elise wouldn't mind but no more babies happenin' here!)

But Baby Isaiah is going to be a big brother (and Elise has another chance of getting a girl cousin closer to her age)!


Keep in mind that my brother is 10 years younger than me (but has just as much grey hair) so we get to enjoy the babies without actually having them ourselves these days. :)

So, Eric calls me the other night. To be fair, they are in the middle of a stressful house move and I'd asked him a few weeks ago (just joking!) if Merry was pregnant trying to point out that it could be worse....they could be going through the stress and physical exhaustion of a move while being pregnant. (He felt bad about lying to me!)

Then today, my sister and I are e-mailing back and forth. I ask her if she talked with Eric last night. Her response "No, what's up?" What the heck?!? I'm KNOWN as being the worst secret keeper in the family. Why did he tell me but not make ALL OF THE FAMILY CALLS? I had to stop e-mailing her and I couldn't call her all day! I finally called Eric on my way home to tell him he had tonight to tell her because I couldn't keep it a secret any longer!

CONGRATULATIONS! By the way, Elise has already put in the REPEATED request for a girl cousin (good thing Isaiah is pretty darn cute otherwise she'd still be ticked at you for not giving her a girl cousin last time).

Frankly, she's tired of being in a "boy trap."

Isaiah

This adorable little pumpkin is our youngest nephew. My brother just sent me these pictures. Is he not the cutest little guy you've seen?!? *ALMOST* makes you want another one, doesn't it! :)

He is also seriously HAPPY all.the.time! Not kidding....I've seen him fuss just a teeny-tiny bit and then he gets over it. (Why did I get the cranky kids?!?)

What kills me is this little bugger is in Chicago and we don't get to see him nearly as often as I'd like.

I love this picture of Isaiah and Sophie (the dog). Sophie is ready to jump in and play with Isaiah. (Eric...sorry if that' s Moose and not Sophie...I can only tell them apart by their tails so I'm taking a good guess here!)

Enjoy some serious baby goodness :)